It is likely many donated money to get a sample of the farm's tasty bacon or to be supportive of a small ranch in Vermont. But what people should also know is that the family's "butcher shop" could also be one of the most important things to happen in small-scale meat processing in years.

As the demand for local, pasture-raised animals has risen steadily, the number of slaughterhouses willing and able to accommodate small farms has dwindled.

So when the Jeffries heard their regular slaughterhouse would be closing (and another in the area burned down), the family wondered about building their own on-farm. They met with USDA and Vermont inspectors and were warned the cost of a small-scale processing facility could run them anywhere from $2.5-$4.5 million. The legal headache of providing USDA inspection for their products was also daunting.

But the status quo was not working for them either.

"Currently meat processing (slaughter, butcher, smoking) requires us to drive seven hours each week, spend two to four hours sorting orders, and is a stress on our livestock. It also costs us 30% to 50% of our total income," wrote Walter Jeffries (the dad). "By taking control of our own processing we will increase our farm's business security and sustainability. We will increase the humane handling of our animals, improve meat quality and better our income without increasing the size of our farm."

The Jeffries were convinced the USDA wasn't seeing the problem as they were. "They're thinking too big even for very small," wrote Walter. "We need many smaller processing facilities. A network of nano-scale facilities will give us all better food security."

Walter drafted up the plans. He and his son Will and wife Holly spent 18 months learning meat cutting and the entire family (including younger siblings Ben and Hope) built the shell of the building. And now the public has donated more than $25,000 to toward making the facility a reality.

Two things however make this project a possible industry game changer. The first is the cost. The Jeffries say the grand total will be about $150,000 - including the costly machinery. While they admit some of the cost savings are because the family owns the land, has done much of the labor and drew up the plans themselves, the fact remains all signs say the project will be built for a fraction of the USDA's estimate.

Secondly, the family is also making the entire project open sourced - meaning that they are sharing every part of the project with the public and other farms wanting to do the same. Plans, videos and even a detailed budget can be found on Sugar Mountain Farm's prolific blog and on the Open Source Ecology website.